This week Caroline is joined by one of the greatest novelists of her generation to talk about Dirty Dancing, Sylvia Plath, and whether Adam Driver is hot. Curtis is the author of American Wife, Rodham and the forthcoming Romantic Comedy. Caroline is the author of several books and really wants you to pre-order The Rachel Incident. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gaming used to be for everybody, like Lego. But somewhere around the early noughties gaming became extremely gendered, with first person war shooters dominating mainstream gaming and “girl” games arrived. We talk The Sims, Harvest Moon, Pokemon, Stardew Valley, tv and movie franchise games, horse riding games, a little bit of Zelda, and a little bit of Skyrim. We also discuss Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and finish with recommendations for new gamers. Recs include: Wandersong Chicory A Short Hike Cult of the Lamb Boyfriend Dungeon Going Under  Wychwood What Remains of Edith Finch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some news on the next few episodes, and news on The Rachel Incident Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Otegha Uwagba is finally on the podcast and we're having a far-reaching and slightly rogue conversation about girlboss feminism, being a bad bitch, the aftermath of MeToo and how we complain. We also cover Elizabeth Holmes, Nicki Minaj and the girlboss bitches of pop culture. Baroness Von Schrader: we salute you. Otegha Uwagba is the author of several books, including We Need To Talk About Money, Whites and Little Black Book. Caroline O'Donoghue is the author of many novels, including the forthcoming The Rachel Incident Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dolly is back and we're talking commitment-phobia, memorabilia, and the noble failures of Julia Roberts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Food writer Laura Goodman joins us this week to talk about the modern phenomenon of snacking and the breakdown of the three-meal day. This is sentimental garbage's first foray into food culture so we end up covering a lot: from rental snacks, to pantry shops to the modern phenomenon of small plates. We also cover cookies and the general consensus that restaurants are worse than they've ever been. Laura Goodman is the author of Carbs and The Joy of Snacks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're carrying on from last week's deep dive into the Gilmore Girls with chats about Jess, Luke, Max Medina and our mystery number one slot. We also discuss Melissa McCarthy's charming but strangely uncompelling storylines, the quiet tragedy of Lane Kim and whether one or both Gilmore Girls suffer from IBS. Thanks for joining us for this super fun series! Find Jof Owen at Legends of Country and The Boy Least Likely To. Caroline O'Donoghue is a novelist whose next adult novel, The Rachel Incident, is available for pre-order everywhere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the first of our two-part special on Gilmore Girls! Today we discuss: did Dean storm the capital? Is Christopher a serial people pleaser? Could we correctly term Richard and Emily as 'very a play'? Also class transition, where exactly in WeTransfer that Rory works, and what kind of podcast guest Lorelai Gilmore might be. Jof Owen is a musician who produces music under The Boy Least Likely To and Legends of Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get ready for an incredibly fun and slightly fork-obsessed discussion about Chicago and the process of writing musicals in general. We talk about room songs, corridor songs, The Little Mermaid, and the perfection that is every single shot of this incredible movie. Are you a Cell Block Tango girl or a They Both Reached For the Gun kinda girl? Natasha Hodgson is one of the writer/performers behind Operation Mincemeat, which is on the West End from March 29th. She is also the creator of the BBC comedy podcast The Sink and a writer for TV shows like The Amazing World of Gumball and Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Monica Heisey was an unusually young divorcée and a writer of unusually famous sitcoms when she began writing her iconic break-up novel Really Good, Actually, and we're here to talk about both. Why will Jennifer Aniston always be the heartbreak queen, despite Adele and Taylor Swift vying for the title? Do friend break-ups hurt worst of all? And did Caroline learn all her emotional cues from Frasier? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From earliest childhood, girls are taught to obsess over weddings as the one thing in common we'll ever have with a Disney princess. We talk about women and weddings, the cult of the Chill Bride, and whether wedding cynicism has gone too far. It's a real mish-mash today: we talk Friends, Abigail Again, Emma Bunton, Father of the Bride, Maid Marian, Richard Curtis and much more. Lauren Bravo is the author of How To Break Up with Fast Fashion and the forthcoming novel Pre-Loved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you're a die-hard Jo fan or an Amy apologist, there's no way to be a woman alive in the 21st century without having an opinion on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. We get into it, discussing all three major film adaptations, plus the now canon March Sisters at Christmas. We also discuss the female expectation of auto fiction, the limits of writing around a dead loved one, and the Cool Girl-ification of Jo March. Works cited: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/08/29/the-real-tragedy-of-beth-march/ https://twitter.com/peytonology/status/1516802190849060865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1516802190849060865%7Ctwgr%5Ec5f4ce8c8c9ef490cce2f3571045f3adfc33c674%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.intomore.com%2Fa-queer-love-letter%2Flouisa-may-alcott-trans%2F Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen Cownie returns for a tarot-infused culture ramble where we cover tiny dogs, long nails and blue jeans. Also Joe Alwyn and Margaret Atwood get a shout out. If you're hitting Cheltenham Literature Festival this weekend, come find us! Caroline's dates: 8 October: Live Sentimental Garbage with Alexandra Haddow at the Daffodil Restaurant (9.30) 8 October: Live Wild Garbage with Jen Cownie at Boston Tea Party (18.30) 9 October: The Sunday Papers with Marcus Brigstocke (12.15) 9 October: Literature's Worst Agony Aunt (16:30) Jen's dates: 8 October: tarot talk at Waterstones (17:00) 8 October: Live Wild Garbage with Jen Cownie at Boston Tea Party (18.30) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and essayist Sloane Crosley shares her pre-teen love of Enya in the final episode of the season! We talk about music, conflicting nationalities, Zadie Smith's phone, and secret places. Sloane is the author of several books including her latest novel, Cult Classic. This is the final episode for a few months, so in the meantime, I'd really appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for my books. For adults, Promising Young Women and Scenes of a Graphic Nature. For younger readers: All Our Hidden Gifts, The Gifts that Bind Us, and the forthcoming Every Gift A Curse Bye for now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Kate Moss the fit version of Forrest Gump? We track the career of Kate in a handful of photos, picked by lifelong fan and comedian Alex Haddow. We discuss the fall of the 80s supermodel, the famous shoot for The Face, her era-defining romance with Pete Doherty, her friendship with basically everyone famous ever, and a brief emotional moment about the royal wedding. Catch Alexandra Haddow at Edinburgh this year with her show Woman in Progress at the Southsider theatre https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2022/alexandra-haddow/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to go back to an era where you hung around a shopping centre all day with no money for no reason! We talk about Avril Lavigne's impact on millennial women, the allure of being "one of the boys", the Girlfriend era, the question of authenticity and Avril's eventual life with the Backstreet Boys. Annie Lord's first book, Notes on Heartbreak, is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we attempt to cover the entire career of Anne Rice and quickly realise that it's impossible, so this conversation takes some of the most enjoyable twist and turns of the season. Caroline and Siobhán discuss vampires, witches, magic in Ireland, trans rights, women who take up TOO much space, Paul McCartney for some reason, sleeping beauty, and much much more. Siobhán McSweeney is the star of Derry Girls, Holding and the is the host of the Great Pottery Throw Down. She is more famous than Fiona Shaw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The bad boy of BBC iPlayer Connor Finch comes on to talk about one of his foremost musical heroes, Lily Allen. We talk about Lily's place in pop culture, her treatment by the British press, what a "London" sound is, the nepotism problem in the arts, and much much more. We don't talk about every single song on Connor's list in detail but the full list is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IKpqKPTNJCXFrv0bbClCF?si=ec606c16a49f4286 Connor Finch plays "Street" in Everything I Know About Love, which was created by some chick we've never heard of. Catch every episode on BBC iPlayer now Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Wimbledon week, and both Caroline and Jessica prefer the romantic, fictional rendering of Wimbledon to actual Wimbledon itself. We discuss Kirsten Dunst's slow-building status as a millennial icon, how this script is a perfect rendering of the rom-com formula, the last great era of the sincere rom-com, and the profound emotional effect of sports movies (even when you don't care about sport itself). Jessica Brown Findlay is the star of Harlots, and formerly of Downton Abbey. Caroline is still an author and you can find her books pretty much anywhere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.